Friday, March 30, 2018

Astronomers Discover Distant Galaxy Devoid of Dark Matter

Researchers
using data amassed from the Gemini North and W. M. Keck Observatories
have discovered a galaxy almost completely empty of dark matter. Known
as NGC1052-DF2, this galaxy is classified as an ultra-diffuse galaxy, a
relatively new type of galaxy first discovered in 2015. However unlike
other ultra-diffuse galaxies (which are actually quite common), no other
galaxy has yet been discovered lacking so much dark matter. "Finding a galaxy
without dark matter is unexpected because this invisible, mysterious
substance is the most dominant aspect of any galaxy," said lead author
Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University. "For decades, we thought that galaxies start their lives as blobs of dark matter. After that everything else happens: gas falls into the dark matter halos,
the gas turns into stars, they slowly build up, then you end up with
galaxies like the Milky Way. NGC1052-DF2 challenges the standard ideas
of how we think galaxies form." "Without the Gemini
images dissecting the galaxy's morphology we would have lacked context
for the rest of the data," said Shany Danieli, a Yale University
graduate student on the research team. "Also, Gemini's confirmation
that NGC1052-DF2 is not currently interacting with another galaxy will
help us answer questions about the conditions surrounding its birth."

Article Compiled By: Kyle Tam

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